Dispenser for extra-hot peppers

ABSTRACT

An extra-hot pepper dispenser for peppers like Habanero that allows dispensing without the danger of sneeze-causing dust or the accidental act of getting pepper on the hands. The dispenser can include a generally cylindrical container (or other shape) with a flip-top cap. A grating with a particular sized hole or holes for the pepper being used fits into an end of the container under the cap. The cap fits snugly in the container with a lid in a closed position to prevent children from opening it. One or more holes in the grating causes exactly the correct rate of pepper dispensing to take place so that there is little danger of dust or contact, or danger or too much pepper being dispensed.

This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent application No. 60/783,954 filed Mar. 20, 2006. Application60/783,954 is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of spice dispensingand more particularly to a special dispenser including a special cap forextra-hot peppers.

2. Background of the Invention

The use of different peppers on pizza and other foods is well-known.Most peppers, while being somewhat hot, are fairly benign. However,there are types of peppers such as the Habanero pepper can becharacterized as extra-hot. The relative heat of peppers is normallymeasured on a scale called Scolville Units. Orange Habanero has a valueof 200,000 to 300,000 units with a red variety (called Savana Red) thathas 500,000 units. This is much hotter than a Jalapeno with a value of25,000 units.

There several hazards associated with handling and dispensing extra-hotpeppers. The first is eye contact, and the second is sneezing. It isvery undesirable to get any of the pepper dust on the hands sincecontact with the eye can lead to severe burning. Also, when extra-hotpeppers are dispensed with prior art methods, the associated dust canlead to sneezing bouts. In some cases, sneezing due to dust ondispensing Habanero pepper has persisted for over 30 minutes. This leadsto extreme discomfort and even burning of nasal membranes.

It would be advantageous to have an extra-hot pepper dispensingapparatus that would eliminate the any stray pepper on the hands andprevent dust that can cause sneezing while still easily dispensing thepepper on a slice of pizza or other food product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an extra-hot pepper dispenser that caninclude a generally cylindrical pepper container (or any other shape)for holding a supply of extra-hot pepper; a flip-top cap attached to thepepper container with a lid connected with a hinge, where the flip-topcap fits snugly to close the container. The lid has a closed positionwhere the pepper is protected and allows dispensing of pepper in an openposition. The device can also have a grating covering an opening in thecontainer where the grating contains a round or elliptical hole betweenaround ⅛ inch or an ellipse around 3/16 inch by ⅛ inch or containsmultiple holes each not larger than a size chosen for a particularpepper such as Habanero.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the special cap ofthe present invention.

FIG. 1B shows the embodiment of FIG. 1A with the lid closed.

FIG. 1C shows a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1D shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A shows a perspective view of a grating.

FIG. 2B shows a top view of the grating of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C shows a side view of the grating of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 shows the cap of FIG. 1 inserted into a test tube-like peppercontainer.

Several drawings and illustrations have been presented to aid inunderstanding the present invention. The scope of the present inventionis not limited to the figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning to FIGS. 1A-1D, an embodiment of the present invention can beseen. A generally cylindrical pepper container cap 1 can be seen. Thiscontainer cap 1 can be equipped with a lid 2 that can flip open on anattached hinge 3. The lid 2 can latch closed for storage by engaging therim 4 of an inner top 5. The rim 4 can be shaped to snugly hold the lidclosed when the device is not in use. A tab 6 can facilitate opening thelid 2. The device can have optional grips 7 that allow the cap to beinserted and snugly remain inserted into a test tube-like cylinder orother-shaped pepper container. A cylindrical embodiment of a containeris shown in FIG. 3 with the cap of FIG. 1 inserted. The extra-hot pepperis normally placed inside the container 11 using a filling machine orfilling method that prevents dust. The cap 2 in place can be clearlyseen in FIG. 3. The inner top 5 of the cap can contain one or more holes8. This hole can be larger than necessary to dispense the pepper sincethe flow is metered by a grating.

Under the inner top 5, a grating 9 contains one or more holes 10 of anexact size for dispensing the pepper in a sneeze-free manner. Thishole(s) is chosen for the exact grain size of the pepper. Pure Habaneropepper granules can be supplied in #8 mesh. This is the preferred meshsize for application of this pepper to pizza and similar foods. The sizeof the hole 10 in the grating 9 for this mesh size of Habanero peppershould be around ⅛ in. or a little smaller An elliptical hole of around⅛ in. by 3/16 in. also works A larger hole results in too much pepperbeing dispensed and possible dust; too small a hole results in clogging.It is within the scope of the present invention to use different holesizes with different peppers and different hole sizes with the samepepper for different dispensing properties.

To use the dispenser of the present invention, the user simply flips thelid open and dispenses the pepper onto the food with a normal shakingmotion. This can be done with the present invention without fear ofdispensing too much, of getting pepper on the hands and thence into theeyes and of creating dust that can cause sneezing. The dispenser of thepresent invention is safe around small children because they cannotgenerally open the flip top.

Several descriptions and illustrations of the present invention havebeen presented to better aid in understanding the structure andfunctioning of the invention. One skilled in the art will realize thatnumerous changes and variations are possible without deviating from thespirit of the invention. Each of these changes and variations are withinthe scope of the present invention.

1. An extra-hot pepper dispenser comprising: a generally cylindricalpepper container with an open end for holding a supply of extra-hotpepper; a flip-top cap insertable into the open end of said peppercontainer, said cap having a lid attached to the cap by a hinge, saidlid locking to close said container in a closed position and allowingdispensing in an open position; a grating in said flip-top cap coveringan opening in the pepper container, said grating containing a hole ofaround ⅛ in. in size.
 2. The extra-hot pepper dispenser of claim 1further comprising a plurality of holes in said grating, each of saidholes not larger than ⅛ in. in diameter.
 3. The extra-hot pepperdispenser of claim 1 wherein said flip-top cap has a body with grips forfitting snugly into said container.
 4. The extra-hot pepper dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein said flip-top cap is plastic.
 5. The extra-hot pepperdispenser of claim 1 wherein said grating is removable.
 6. The extra-hotpepper dispenser of claim 1 wherein said hole is an ellipse of majoraxis 3/16 inch and minor axis of ⅛ inch.
 7. A pepper dispenser fordispensing extra-hot peppers comprising a pepper container with a snuglyfitting cap, said cap having a flip-top lid with an open position and aclosed position, said cap also having a grating for metering saidpepper, said grating containing at least one hole of around ⅛ inch insize.
 8. The pepper dispenser of claim 7 wherein said grating isremovable.
 9. The pepper dispenser of claim 7 wherein said hole is anellipse of around 3/16 inch by ⅛ inch.
 10. The pepper dispenser of claim7 wherein said grating contains a plurality of holes.
 11. A method ofdispensing extra-hot peppers comprising: loading extra-hot pepper into acontainer with a generally cylindrical opening; placing a cap on saidcontainer, said cap fitting snugly on said opening in the container,wherein the cap contains a grating having a hole of around ⅛ inch insize.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said grating contains aplurality of holes.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein said grating isremovable.
 14. The method of claim 11 wherein said hole is an ellipse ofaround 3/16 inch by ⅛ inch.
 15. The method of claim 11 wherein said capcontains a flip-top lid.